[Drago]

I've seen a lot of people on here sharing stories of their current, past, and first hamsters, and I realized that I have never told the story of my first ever hamster! So I would like to make this post, a tribute in her honor. When I got my first hamster, I never exactly wanted a hamster at all, I was always more into fish and reptiles. Fluffy and cute things were not my specialty. I went into petsmart to purchase crickets for my geckos and noticed a small table with a 10 gallon tank on it that had 3 Syrians in it who looked to be in pretty rough condition. The table had a sign that said "hamster adoption blowout" and there were many people gathered around. Of course I was curious, and decided to go check the table out. I asked what was going on and they said they had 26 hamsters that were free to good homes. Now I was pretty surprised by this, and I was also tempted just a little bit. I mean who wouldn't be? They were cute little fur balls who looked like they weren't being cared for very attentively, but I said no that there was no way I was taking home a hamster. Then before I walked out and left, I asked why it was they were giving them out for free and they said "well we have too many in stock and these hamsters are anywhere from 6 months to 1 years+, and if we can't find homes, well there will be need for population control". Now I didn't know what "population control" meant, but I had an idea. Now being the animal obsessed person I was, I couldn't just let an innocent critter be a victim of "population control" so I looked at one of the back cages and saw the most adorable, fluffy, gold and white little hamster. Well I asked to hold her and I immediately fell in love. Well I presume you can guess where this is going. I walked out of the store with a bag of carefresh, a wheel, and a few chew toys as well as a lovely little friend. I had an extra 20 gallon in my closet so I filled it with bedding and the toys, and let her loose. I never thought I'd love a hamster, and excuse my pre-hamster obsessed attitude, but I always considered them "snake food". Never again after my little Remington. Now I know it's not good to buy from petsmart, but I couldn't let her die! I never thought I'd grow so close to an animal, but Remington was different. When I was having a bad day, I'd take her out of her tank and let her play on my bed, soon I realized she wasn't liking the 20 gallon she was in, so I upgraded her to a 50 gallon, and she seemed to enjoy that a lot more. I made many mistakes with her, but she was patient and forgiving, and was sweet right from the start. The employees said she was about a year old when I got her, and at the time, I didn't know how short lived hams were. Unfortunately, just several months after adopting her, she passed away mysteriously. I said goodnight to her and the next morning, she was no longer with me. I was devastated to say the least. She was my best friend and I saw her as a wise old ham, filled with many memories and advice. I buried her in my front yard next to my dog, under the holly tree. Some people say I saved her life, but really, I think she saved mine. May little Remington Rest In Peace, I will always remember you